The Victorian Public Record Office (PRO) building which dominates Chancery Lane opened its doors in 1856. By the end of 1996, all the original records housed there were moved to the new Public Record Office and Kew and the Chancery Lane building closed.
However, the association of the site with the public records goes back for much longer that 140 years, to at least 1377, when the Chancery official responsible for record-keeping , the Master of the Rolls, took it over.
This generously illustrated history of the site describes how the public records were looked after, there and elsewhere, from the Middle Ages until 1977 when the Kew office first opened its doors to the public.
It uses the words of record-keepers, officials and readers to give a candid account of the evolution of one of the finest national archives in the world and the building of one of the first purpose built archive repositories, christened.
This short book marks this occasion by recalling the association of the site with public records since at least 1377, the story of its staff and readers and the task of housing the public records over 600 years. Topical issues such as listing, conservation and access to the records are dealt with in the historical context of the day. Fully illustrated with both official and more personal mementoes, including sketches by staff.
Contents:
Preface
1. Introduction: 'In the beginning ...'
2. Mythopoeia and Superiority
3. The Chronicling of an Advocate's Brief
4. Humanism and New Looks at Old History
5. George Buchanan, Humanist and historian
6. The Religious Factor: Old Dogmatisms and New
7. Antiquarians versus Antiquaries
8. Towards Enlightenment and a New View of History
9. The Dawn of Enlightenment
10. Enlightenment and Darkness Visible
11. James Macpherson and 'The Invention of Ossian'
12. Goth versus Gael
13. Per Ardua ad Astra
14. Conclusion
Bibliography
Index
Review:Few would have the knowledge of the confidence to tackle to entire scope of this topic by William Ferguson is well endowed on both counts ... The publication of this book will mark the crowing achievement of a distinguished career -- Edward Cowan, Professor of Scottish History, University of Glasgow I welcome this book as an important contribution to literature ... we can all learn much from it -- Geoffrey Barrow, Emeritus Professor of Scottish History, University of Edinburgh
